Saturday, October 19, 2013

Students Words that Made My Heart Sing

For my celebration this week, I am sharing snippets of oral or written conversation that made my heart sing with joy.

1) From one boy's reading response letter:

Dear Mrs. T
I have really enjoyed living in this classroom full of books.

2) From one girl's reading response letter after a fabulous skype visit with Barbara O'Connor:

Talking to Barbara o Conner she does not act like a famous person.

3) Indoor recess, a group of students playing Charades. The boy whose turn it was was standing on one leg, with the other leg rotated 90 degrees and placed on his shin. His hands were pressed, palms together and raised above his head. Students couldn't guess what he was trying to demonstrate and turned to me for help. I asked if he was doing the tree yoga pose (thanks to my yoga instructors!). He was so relieved that I guessed it and he got to leave this balancing pose. His words:

"Thank heavens you were here!" -- I guess he never thought about trying a different clue. :)

4) We went on a new field trip for us to the largest Metro Park in central Ohio, and went creeking to look at the ecosystems in the creek and to judge the quality of the water. After splashing around in freezing water for over an hour, watching kids so intent on capturing biotic organisms that live in the creek and then try to identify them, watching many students fall on a slippery rock and go down into the water, hearing the peal of giggles and screams because they were excited, learning, and having fun... My words to my teaching partner as we climbed on the bus:

BEST. FIELD. TRIP. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you have had a wonderful week that had at least one celebration in it. Have a great weekend! And don't forget to head over to Ruth's blog to see what others are celebrating!!!

Definitely a week of words worth celebrating! I love, love, love the idea of "living" in a classroom full of books! Thank heavens you are there to provide that for these very lucky kiddos! (I loved the tree yoga pose comment too! So funny!)

Karen,What a wonderful week to celebrate. However, I can't help but notice that the reason you are aware of all these things should be celebrated ---- you slow down to listen. It's so hard in a busy classroom with many different students to slow down enough to listen carefully to what children are saying. Your students seem to know this as your one friend said, "Thank heavens you were here."